Apple said to be too ‘involved’ in original content
A piece in the New York Post claims Apple executives are a bit too close to their original content projects
Sources say agents and producers are not happy about Apple’s “intrusive” executives. Calling them “difficult” to deal with and saying there is a general “lack of clarity” or transparency over what Apple wants.
Most talent and producers generally prefer to be left alone to see their projects reach their vision.
Tim Cook is specifically called out in the report as giving many “notes” the most common of which is “don’t be so mean”.
There are still reports that one of the things Apple is looking for is a more “family friendly” approach content and this latest report also ads they want a generally positive portrayal of technologies role in their shows
Something that sound bad especially if you’re developing sci-fi shows.
Apple also keeps moving the launch of the service and that too is leading to frustration.
I have to imaging Apple’s tight involvement is a contributing factor.
The piece also points out Apple’s “edge” player status compared to Netflix, Amazon, and Disney
These are also Silicon Valley vs. Hollywood “growing pains” that Netflix and Amazon have had to work through as well
Despite all the complaints it doesn’t seem like Apple is having any issues attracting top tier talent to make shows for them
This week Variety reported on a new straight-to-series drama staring Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson
It’s a CIA drama based on the memoir of a real CIA undercover operative
Sketchy evidence of iTunes DRM being cracked
Several sites are reporting on a version of Aquaman in 4K that surfaced
TorrentFreak speculated the version could only have come from a cracked version of the iTunes release
Why? The name of the file.
It had Web-DL in the name which typically refers to “web download” from a streaming service
iTunes has the exclusive 4K release on streaming.
They do note a 4K VUDU version that surfaced before the release of the film.
There are also now versions on the torrent sites of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" That too are allegedly from iTunes
More likely these are other rips/leaks that someone is re-labeling to troll the torrent sites.
New AirPods may charge fast
This info is coming via a single user in a mobile developers community so take it for what it’s worth.
Claims that AirPod 2’s could have fast wireless Qi charging
Charging in 15 minutes for both the AirPods and the wireless charging case.
The report does mention the case will be slightly bigger in “on direction” and heavier because of it.
Other recent AirPod 2 rumors
Black color option
Hey Siri support
Noise cancellation
Improved water resistance
“Grippier” coating.
Health features including heart rate monitoring
Debate on the possible release date.
Some thing with all the new features the product may not arrive until later this year
Have also been whispers that Apple could announce the product at an event that may take place on March 25th.
MacRumors and a few other sites were fooled by a “faked” by a PR company
Consumers put Amazon above Apple on Privacy
A new report is out from SmartHQ, a behavioral marketing company, that claims consumers are almost twice as trustful of Amazon’s handling of their personal data vs. Apple.
They survey’d 1,000 consumers on their privacy concerns, brand experiences, and personal preferences
86 percent said they were concerned about their data privacy and 79 percent said companies know too much about them
Still 90 percent they would be willing to share their behavioral data in exchange for making shopping earlier and cheaper.
When asked which companies they felt were using their data responsibly only 26.6 percent picked Apple
Just about the same, 26.2 percent, as Google
Amazingly also they half, 48.3 percent, said they felt Amazon was using their data responsibly.
The report also said email was the most preferred way consumer would like brands to interject with them
Despite spam being such and issue? Opt-in
Consumers hate push notifications
Creepy marketing tactics
1. Website chat pop-ups that use AI
2. Push notifications featuring brands or products you’ve looked at in the past
3. Push notifications to re-purchase consumable products (razors, toothpaste, etc)
4. Push notifications feature products you’ve purchased in the past
5. Ads featuring products and brands you’ve look at in the past.
Apple acquires Lighthouse patents
Apple picked up the patent portfolio for a failed home security camera company called Lighthouse AI.
Seems like Apple is likely interested in the patents related to computer vision, facial recognition, and object detection.
There are also patents related to depth sensing camera systems and doing depth sensing and image detection in low light.
The patents were purchased back in December but only surfaced in February due to their appearance on the US Patent and Trademark Office Database.
Lighthouse had been trying to compete against companies like Ring, Nest, and Wyze
Their system included the ability to do 3D sensing and could remember the faces of homeowners, family, and frequent visitors
Could be helpful for a future Home Pod update that would support multiple users in the same household.
Vision systems also could filter out low light noice and pet movement
Doubtful Apple wants to make a video camera products, but the patents could be useful across a number of Apple products, like iPhone (FaceID)/, Home Pod, AR /VR, and their autonomous systems projects
Foldable glass may be in iPhone’s future
Corning says they are working on it.
They have “Willow” glass which can be rolled up and Gorilla glass which is durable
It’s combining those two properties that is challenging.
They have glass now that is 0.1mm thick and can be bent to a 5mm radius
Their willow glass needs to go through a process involving dipping glass into a molten salt solution, and salt corrodes the transistors found in display applications
They claim they have glass that customers are already sampling, but they are not meeting all the spec requirements.
Apple might have a 5G modem problem in 2020 if they won’t settle up with Qualcomm
At issue is Apple waiting to launch a 5G iPhone in 2020 using Intel modems.
The problem Intel won’t have mmWave capabilities.
This is the band uses for 5G’s high-speed wireless communications
They could use another supplier like Samsung or Qualcomm, but that’s unlikely
Apple could by Intel’s modem business and developer their own chips, but that likely couldn’t happen any time soon
Ming Chi-Kuo thinks Apple is getting set to drop their first augmented reality product late this year or by mid 2020
The product will likely be a headset or glasses that are connected to an iPhone.
In fact, Kuo says the first version will be “heavily dependent” on iPhone
The glasses would essentially serve as a display with the iPhone providing processing and connectivity.
Melbourne tells Apple they don’t want their store
Apple’s had a rough time with some of their proposed new retail store’s lately
Even after redesigning a proposed store in Melbourne’s Federation Square the community and the city council are fighting to stop Apple’s construction
Most recently the Melbourne councilor agreed to oppose demolition of the Yarra Building
Apple did apply for a demolition permit for the building despite an interim protection order issued back in August
There is a move to list Federation Square on the Victorian Heritage Register which could ultimately stop Apple’s plans from moving forward.
Now Heritage Victoria will decide if the demolition permit application is approved or rejected
One option that might work for Apple and the people of Melbourne would be if Apple moved into the Yarra Building and adapted the space rather tan demolishing it.
Remains to be seen if Apple is even interested in that and likely not.
More likely if they get too much opposition they could just drop their plans all together.
Something they did recently with their proposed Stockholm Sweden Store
They had heavy government opposition to their planned location and decided it just wan’t worth it.
Apple Store’s, especially flagship ones, have proven to be a big draw for retail locations.
Apple updates iPhone repair policies
MacRumors received an internal Apple repair document that is good news if you’ve had a 3rd party battery installed in your device
In the past that would void the ability for any additional repairs on your device at a Genius Bar or AASP.
If the repairs are unrelated to the battery Apple will now do the repair.
If the repair is battery related they will replace the 3rd party battery for the standard Apple battery fee.
If they can’t remove the third-party battery safely they can give you an iPhone replacement at the standard whole-unit out-of-warranty price
Siri’s accent may be improving
Several reports of improvements to both the British and Australian Siri voices on Home Pod
Reports are saying the voice sounds higher quality and less robotic.
It’s not clear exactly what Apple did to change the voices, but it’s possible some of their machine learning efforts could be paying off.
The exact nature of the changes is unknown but users are reporting a sharper sounding voice, clearer accents, and better intonation.
They changes appear to have been made on the server side so no software update needed.
More clarity on which LG TVs will get AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support
LG has said only 2019 TVs will be getting the updates and those will be coming mid-year.
Disappointing for owners of 2017 and 2018 LG models. There are already petitions.
New art on Apple Music Playlists
Apple has been updating their artwork on Apple Music playlists
They are now using art commissioned from well known artists
The idea is to better connect the playlists to their communities and the content inside the playlists.
In the past Apple used a unified design that tied Apple Playlists to each other.
Apple plans to redesign "many thousands" of Apple Music playlists, with new artwork rolling out over the course of the next few months.
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
Change Keychain Password Suggestions
iCloud Keychain’s new password suggestion tool is great as it helps make sure you’re using unique and secure random passwords
It’s also annoying, like a lot of Apple’s “simple” solutions, due to it’s limitations
Does a 20 character password. Three groups of six separated by dashes.
That’s it, no exceptions
If you don’t like its suggestion you can click or tap the “Choose My Own Password” option to select your own.
If you use a 3rd party password manager, like LastPass or 1Password, then you could opt to only use that and disable the auto fills for iCloud Keychain
I still like having both turned on because the auto-fill from iCloud Keychain takes fewer steps.
Anyone have any tricks for changing Apple’s suggested passwords?
Of course you could simply edit any characters you don’t like
How to do folder encryption
Play comment from John.
I'm not sure of an easy cross platform way. I did mention TruCrypt (that's actually dead), but meant [VeraCrypt](https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html)
OpenSource and free.
Has cross platform tools and it works, but the UI leaves a lot to be desired. Still is the only solution I've seen
If you're only dealing with the Mac i still think the easiest is an encrypted Sparse Bundle Disk Image. Create with Disk Utility.
File > New Image > Blank Image…
Choose your size (the biggest you'll ever want it)
Format: Mac Os Extended Journaled or APFS
Image Format: sparse bundle disk image (could also just choose sparse disk image)
Difference is bundle put the data in small files (8 megabytes each), better for differential backup. (How Time Machine works)
Choose encryption 128-bit or 256-bit AES
Set your password (make it a good one and remember it). Can also store it in the Keychain.
Can create multiple groups for organization in a "vault"
Will let you encrypt and hide entire folders
Menubar icon and keyboard shortcuts to control it
BootCamp in a Apple CPU world
I’m actually a bit surprised about how often I hear from members of our community who are running Boot Camp
Sean is one of those people and was asking about the future of running Windows 10 under Boot Camp if and when Apple starts using it’s own processors in Macs.
Windows 10 actually currently runs on ARM based processors
